Chance at a championship
Senior Caitlyn Bliss powers the Owls past Western Kentucky and into the Sun Belt Conference softball tournament's championship game.
Originally published on
5/9/2009
by
Chuck King
Seventh-seeded Florida Atlantic continued it’s unlikely bid for the Sun Belt Conference tournament title by defeating Western Kentucky 6-5 Saturday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to advance to the championship game.
The Owls will face top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette at 4 p.m. Saturday for the conference title in a game that will be televised on CSS. The Ragin’ Cajuns reached the final by throttling Florida International 8-0 in five innings earlier in the day.
Louisiana-Lafayette (42-11) swept the Owls in a three-game series in April. FAU fialed to score a run in the series, losing games 8-0, 2-0 and 1-0. ULL's Donna Bourgeois was the winning pitcher in all three games, with two complete games in the series.
The Owls (30-29) battled back from deficits three separate times to avenge Friday night’s loss to the Hilltoppers.
Caitlyn Bliss’ provided the biggest blows. Her solo home run in the bottom of the fifth gave the Owls their first lead at 4-3. Her RBI single in the seventh tied the game at 5-5. She also smacked an RBI triple to right in the third inning to cut the Hilltoppers’ lead to 3-2 and tied the game when she scored on Amy Bukovich’s sacrifice fly.
FAU scored the game winner when Bukovich singled to right and Blair Bodenmiller came home on right fielder Kelsey McCauley’s throwing error.
The Hilltoppers jumped on top early, scoring a run in the top of the first. FAU didn't stay down for long. Amber Barton led off the second inning with a home run to left.
Kat Stauffer pitched a complete game to record the victory, leaving Rose Gressley to pitch in the championship game.
GameBrowser: FAU 6, WKU 5
Owl-star performer: Caitlyn Bliss went 3-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBIs and two runs scored.
Stat download: 12 – hits surrendered by Kat Stauffer, who consistently pitched out of trouble.
Up next: FAU faces top seed Louisiana-Lafayette for the Sun Belt championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS.